[thelist] design to look good at any resolution

[aardvark]

> From: "Shirley Kaiser (SKDesigns)" <skaiser at skdesigns.com>
[...] 
> Another point here, too, is that we can't assume that people will be 
> using a full size screen view for our pages, too. I'll have to look back

i did some research on this myself, but for my own sites... my 
results and methodolgy are posted as a two-part article on evolt.org:

	Real-World Browser Size Stats, Part I
http://evolt.org/article/Real_World_Browser_Size_Stats_Part_I/17/2
295/index.cfm

	Real-World Browser Size Stats, Part II
http://evolt.org/article/Real_World_Browser_Size_Stats_Part_II/20/2297/inde
x.cfm

the first shows you how to make a script to check user's window sizes and 
screen res, the second shows my results...

> at something I read on this, too, which showed a listing of browser 
> default screen resolutions with facts and figures on this. (I hate to 
> just toss out info without backing it up with proof when available. I 
> think it's somewhere in the annotated listings at the WebsiteTips.com 
> category on designing for accessibility, cross-platform, cross-browsers 
> (http://www.websitetips.com/design/).

dunno for sure, but there's a good one at Webmonkey:

	Sizing Up the Browsers
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/99/41/index3a.html

as a bunch of screen-res-related articles on evolt.org...

> At any rate, my impression is that we still need to allow for these 
> smaller screen resolutions (such as 640x480) even though the statistics 
> show that the numbers of viewers are shrinking for the smaller ones, as 
> it seems that plenty of people don't use a full screen view for looking 
> at webpages, and it's preferable to avoid the horizontal scrolls.

plus, more devices are being introduced at the sub-640 size, like palmtops 
and the like...

[...]
> In terms of usability, I think I ought to go for one narrower column 
> split onto more pages than keeping the amount of content on a particular 
> page split into 2 columns. I've started to look up some usability 
> studies on reading two columns vs. one, etc. but haven't come up with 
> anything solid enough yet.

you are correct in your assertion that as text expands it can become more 
difficult to read... 30-70 characters per line is often considered the ideal 
range, which is why columns exist in page layout...

however, on screen, i personally don't like sites with columns where the 
text flows between columns... makes scrolling very hard... but i don't think 
that's what you meant...